Life as Gibbs
by SupernaturalSweetheart
Summary: Thea isn't the only Queen child Moira lied to about their true parentage and Oliver is about to find out that living up to the final wishes of Robert Queen isn't nearly as hard as balancing life as "The Hood" and being the son of Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own Arrow or NCIS_

**Author's Note:** I wasn't the biggest fan of Moira, but I'm still not happy with the way she went out. For the purposes of this fiction, the car crash does happen but Slade actually does decide against killing Moira knowing that no matter how much he wants revenge for Shado, killing an innocent women in front of her daughter would be wrong. This story begins after Slade spares Moira and leaves the Queen family in the woods. Oliver succumbs to his injuries soon after and blacks out.

**Summary:** Thea isn't the only Queen child Moira lied to about their true parentage and Oliver is about to find out that living up to the final wishes of Robert Queen isn't nearly as hard as balancing life as "The Hood" and being the son of Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

_**"**__**Life as Gibbs**__**"**_

_Chapter One – The Truth Hurts_

Awareness comes back to him in small step by step increments. The first thing he becomes aware of is the scent of his surroundings. He can smell the cloying scent of antiseptic and sickness and knows immediately that he is in the hospital though for what he remains unsure. Next comes the knowledge that someone has a hold of his left hand and is making small comforting circles on the top of it. Finally, sound also comes flooding in. At first he can't make out more then the beeps, whooshes, and pings of the machinery around him, but then a voice lends itself to the symphony of sounds. It takes him a few moments but he recognizes his mother's voice.

"Robert and I had planned to tell you after you turned 25. We figured it would be best for you to finish school, find your place in the company, and maybe settle down with Laurel. Then the Gambit went down and I couldn't figure out how to tell you when you got back. I wanted to tell you sooner, I really did, but every time I tried it never seemed like the right time. God the look on your face when I finally told you almost killed me sweetheart. You looked so scared and betrayed that I almost wish you'd have been as mad as you were when you found out about Malcolm being Thea's father. You must think I'm a terrible person, having two children and lying to them about who their fathers are. You see, not long before you were born, your father and I weren't in the best place in our marriage. We had married young thinking we knew what marriage meant but we soon found out just how wrong we were. We'd been fighting almost constantly for months when we finally decided to spend a few months apart and evaluate our options and feelings for one another. I went to stay with my parent's who were living in DC at the time. Grandpa Francis and Grandma Maura had waited for the moment they could spout their I told you so's and for weeks I lived under constant berating and smugness. I was miserable and lonely so one night some old friends invited me out for a few drinks to help blow off some steam. That night I met Leroy "call me Jethro" for the first time. I remember being so intrigued by him. He was mysterious and had these beautiful blue eyes, eyes that I could see an intense suffering in. I learned that night over drinks that he had lost his wife and daughter almost 2 years prior. Over the next few weeks that night turned into multiple nights out, dinners, and walks through Rock Creek Park. The last day I spent with Jethro was the day you were conceived. That night we had gone back to his place and he was going to cook me dinner. At that point I was so smitten with him that I'd forgotten why exactly I'd gone to DC in the first place. The next morning I woke up to an empty bed. Eventually I found him in the basement working on a boat of all things, how he planned on getting it out I'll never know, but when he met me at the bottom of the stairs he pulled me into a hug and kissed me on the forehead before telling me that the last few weeks we had spent together were the only time he had allowed himself to be happy since the death of his family. I don't know what came over me, but I blurted out that I was married and that my husband and I were taking a break to work things out. He took my hand and looked my right in the eye with those intense blue eyes of his, eyes he gave to you might I add, and asked me to stay with him. I told him that the time we had shared meant so much to me, but that I loved my husband too. He asked me to leave, to take time to figure out what I wanted and if I choose him to return the next morning. By that afternoon I was on a plane back to Starling City. Robert and I made amends and 2 months later I realized I was pregnant with you. I knew Robert couldn't be your father and I was so scared to tell him. When I finally did though he looked a little relieved and confessed to me that he had also strayed with a women who worked for his father at the company. He sat me down and told me that it didn't matter to him if the child I was carrying wasn't his and that he would love it all the same. He was such a good man, and even though I never understood how he could love you so much and except you so easily, I knew that I had made the right choice in choosing him. It was a very hard decision not telling Jethro about you. He was also a good man and had such a good heart, but with my rejection and the fact that he was still mourning his family, I feared he wasn't in the right place to raise another child. Robert Queen might not have been your father by blood, but he was your father in every way that mattered. I hope one day you'll be able to forgive me and see that I did what I felt was in your best interests. I love you and your sister more than life itself and have done and will continue to do what I think will best protect the both of you. I'll come back tomorrow and hopefully you'll be awake by then so I can have this conversation with you face to face. With any luck your sister won't have me banned from the hospital by then. She and Laurel have become quite close since her community service at CNRI. Needless to say, I don't think your sister will be forgiving me anytime soon. Goodnight my beautiful boy."

With a kiss on the head and a warm squeeze on his shoulder Moira Queen quietly makes her exit. During his mother's story, memories of her initial confession in the limo on the way home from the rally at Verdant and their nightmare of a run in with Slade surface. Thankfully, he'd been trained to keep his heart rate steady and never gave himself away. It had to be karma. He can't find another explanation for hiding the truth from Thea about Malcolm only to turn around and be facing the same heartbreak. He isn't sure if he should feel angry about his parent's lying to him or guilty that Robert Queen died for a son that wasn't even his.

He's still lost in his head an hour later when his door creaks open and closes with a quite snick. His eyes are closed but he'd recognize the scent of his sister's expensive jasmine perfume anywhere.

"Ollie, I know you're awake" Thea whispers as if she's afraid speaking any louder might shatter him. He feels like it might.

"I'm sorry" he tells her miserably as he opens his eyes and settles his gaze on her.

"For what?" she asks rising from the hard plastic chair parked beside the door to sit next to him on the bed. This close he can see the bruise forming along her temple and he feels anger well up inside him for the man responsible.

"For not telling you that Merlyn was your father. Recent personal experience makes it abundantly clear just how much the truth hurts when it finally comes out. I might have been able to soften the blow if I'd have told you myself. It kills me to know I played some part in the pain you experienced. You're my baby sister Speedy. I should have been the one to tell you, not Slade Wilson."

"No Ollie, mom should have been the one to tell me. I realize just how bad of a position you were put in by knowing. I forgive you and I'm sorry for comparing you to her. You did what you had to because you knew that if I found out that Merlyn was my father and not just one but both of my parents were murders that it would hurt me and you wanted to protect me. She lied to protect herself. I support any decision you make Ollie. If you forgive her I'll be happy for you, but I can't forgive her. I may have been able to forgive her eventually for lying to me, but watching her shove the same knife she shoved in my heart into yours is unforgivable. I'm sorry but I just can't do it." Thea tells him before leaning down and resting her head softly on his chest.

"I don't know what I'm going to do. She's coming back tomorrow and I don't even know if I can face her. She confessed the whole story to me about an hour ago. She thought I was asleep and I think that she thought if she told me then it would give her some kind of resolve for tomorrow. I don't really think it worked to be honest with you. It certainly didn't help me any and I know that when she comes here tomorrow that she's going to apologize over and over again. Can we just get out of here?" he begs

"Normally I would say no and that you need to listen to the doctors, but I'm tired and sore. The thought of having to call Laurel and getting mom banned from your room just sounds exhausting at this point. Mr Diggle is in the waiting room, I'm sure he'll be more than willing to drive us somewhere until you can heal up and get things straight. That Felicity girl you work with showed up too. I think she has a thing for you by the way but don't tell her I said anything. Her rambling is cute and all, but..." she leaves it hanging and he smiles

"Yea, Felicity can be a handful sometimes. Why don't you send Dig and Felicity in and go find a doctor so I can sign myself out."

"On it." she says before standing up and making her way towards the door. She stops just before exiting and turns around. "I love you Ollie"

"I love you too Speedy"


	2. Gibbs Finds Out

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Arrow or Supernatural

**Summary:** Thea isn't the only Queen child Moira lied to about their true parentage and Oliver is about to find out that living up to the final wishes of Robert Queen isn't nearly as hard as balancing life as "The Hood" and being the son of Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

**"Life as Gibbs"**

The last few days had been, by all accounts, calm at NCIS headquarters for the MCRT. Having been pulled from rotation late last week to undergo mandatory annual training and evaluations, the team was spending their spare time working on cold cases. DiNozzo, McGee, and David were individually combing over a decades worth of unsolved cases in hopes that one of them could glean any information from the countless boxes of dusty paper files which were normally housed in the basement but currently stacked like a fortress around the bullpen. This would continue for another week and a half until they were deemed competent and another team was moved into training.

This meant that he would be stuck wasting his time scoring his agents in areas he knew they were already more than proficient in. After all, a team doesn't just stumble upon the highest solve rate in the agency unless all of it's members are damn good at their jobs. A sub-par agent wouldn't have made it as on his team as long as his current members anyway. He told Director Vance as much but the snide little weasel just shook his head, gave his tooth pick a good nash, and stated: "Policy Gibbs. SecNav wants all NCIS personnel up to par with current standards and without testing each individual team there is no way of know if anyone is falling behind. This way we have in writing that they are capable and competent so if something were to happen with your team SecNave can't question their capabilities. I'm really not trying to torture anyone Gibbs. I'm just trying to cover all of our asses".

He hadn't let the last few day go to waste though. He had finished his portion of the teams evaluations, completed back logged case reports, flung a stack of order forms at DiNozzo demanding he go over the status of office supplies needed, ordered McGee to clean up and run the necessary diagnostawatchamacallit on all the bullpen computers, and much to Ziva's amusement and Tim and Tony's charginpolitely asked her to clean up the teams weapons. With a grumble of "On it Boss!" from the guys and a "Yes Gibbs" from Ziva he's out of things to do. Maybe a trip to the lab to visit is favorite goth was in order. She'd been working at an A+ level for quite some time and she deserved to have a lunch break outside of the lab for once...his treat. On that note maybe he'll treat the whole team, that would keep them talking for awhile.

"Let's go get lunch. My treat" he tells the team as he rises from his chair

"Oh thank God" McGee whines

"What's a matter? Got to many paper cuts on your poor wittle fingers McTechy?" DiNozzo jokes only just barley keeping the astonishment of his bosses apparent meltdown from making him say something worthy of a head slap.

"Ignore him McGee. He is just yanking your chain. That was correct yes?" Ziva inputs. Her use of idioms had been improving lately.

"Bob's your uncle" Tony answers purposefully in an attempt to trip Ziva up. It works.

"No he's not. My uncle is Chadar" She responds in confusion

"It means your right Ziver" Gibbs tells her

"Well that doesn't make any sense! Who is this Bob and what does he have to do with being right? Was he an astronaut on all things right?!" she indigently sputters

"Pioneer Zi. Not astronaut" McGee inputs

"Whatever. The point I was trying to make McGee is that you should ignore Tony. I too am relieved to be getting a break from this tedious work. If I knew the person who was responsible for annual training I would take a paper clip to him!" She answers hotly. Gibbs agrees with the sentiment.

As they make their way to the elevator bank Tony stops dead in his tracks.

"Wait a minute" he asks as if something just occurred to him. "Did you say your uncle's name was Cheddar? You know...like the cheese?"

"She said Chadar Tony. It means honor in Hebrew. It the bible it wa..." McGee beings only to be cut off by Gibbs

"McGee no one wants a history lesson right now. If you want to bore someone to death I would be more than happy to drop you off in autopsy with Ducky and Palmer. Their patients are already dead and would probably be good company. Or you can zip the yabba and have lunch with us" Gibbs jokes

"Shutting up boss" McGee quickly responds

As the elevator dings to announce it's arrival Gibbs can't help but notice Tony looks quite like a mouse that's caught the canary. He'll let Tony have this win for now but later the kids in for it. As the elevator doors slide open he stops dead in his tracks at the sight that greats him. The beautiful blonde hair is cropped much shorter than the last time he saw her, but there is no mistaking the women standing in front of him. He may not have seen her in almost three decades but his heart does a flip flop when Moira Queen steps out of the elevator and back into his life.

Moira had been such a brief part of his life, but 28 years later a small part of him still longs for her. He remembers with clarity the night he met her in the smoky little dive just inside the DC borders. Her soft blonde hair and beautiful smile caught him off guard because it had been so out of place. He found himself revealing to her that night over drinks things he never could have imagined opening up about again. The few whirlwind weeks they had spent together were some of the best of his life but they had soon taken a dark turn. He can still remember the heartache he felt waking up that morning and waiting hours for her to show up before realizing that she never would. She had been the only women after Shannon that he truly saw a second chance at a happy life with. It had taken him months of fighting with himself not to go after her before he decided that he loved her enough to let her go. He'd met ex wife number one not long after.

"Moira, what are you doing here?" he asks in astonishment

"I need to talk to you" she answers nervously ringing her hands

"About what?" he counters

"I really think this is a conversation best had in private" she tells him while gesturing the unmoving and very curious members of his team that are standing behind him

He turns to his team but before he can get a word out Tony saves him the trouble.

"Oh would you look at that, lunch time already. Why don't the three of us go grab Abs, Ducky, and Black Lung then head on out to Mickey's for lunch" Tony doesn't wait for a response from his partners before grabbing a protesting McGee and Ziva by the collars and dragging them towards the stairs. Gibbs is grateful that Tony had the foresight to take Abby, Ducky, and Black Lung with him to lowering the chances of he and Moira being interrupted. Wait? Black Lung? Not important.

Moira looks more than nervous now so he places a hand at the small of her back and directs her to the nearest conference room. He gets her settled and comfortable before jogging back the way he came to get coffee from the lunch room. He doesn't know what Moira is going to tell him but his gut is screaming "YOU'RE GOING TO NEED COFFEE FOR THIS!". He grabs two cups and heads back to the women who broke his heart years ago. When he reaches the conference room again Moira is pacing back and forth along the far wall.

"What's this about Moira?" he asks her before taking a seat at the end of the table closest to the door

"Promise me you'll let me explain everything before you tell me to go to hell and walk back out that door" she begs

"Just tell me what's going on. What has you so worked up that you'd seek out a man you haven't seen or spoken to in nearly three decades? Are you in some kind of trouble?" he asks

"No, but I think my son might be in trouble" she tells him

"Your son?"

"No. Our son" she chokes out

"Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry I wanted to tell y..." she starts but he cuts her off

"What do you mean our son. We don't have a son Moira because you left me without a word and I haven't seen you since. How can we have a son?" he's confused and starting to get mad

"I got pregnant that last night we spent together" she answers

"No that can't be possible. That was 28 years ago and you never said anything to me! If this is true how the hell could you not find time to tell me sooner!?" he's yelling now

"I'm sorry. I know I should have told you, but I'd already made my choice and had been back in Starling for two months when I found out I was pregnant. Robert told me id didn't make a difference if the child wasn't his that he would love it all the same. I knew that you were in a bad place at the time and I didn't want you to have to face rasing another child so soon after losing one. I made a decision that at the time I thought was for the best and have wondered everyday if I did the right thing. Robert and I had planned on telling Oliver the truth when he turned 25 to give him a chance to get his life together before we shook everything up for him. Sadly, Robert died 7 years ago and until recently I had thought Oliver had perished too. Thankfully, my family was blessed with a miracle and he was returned to us. Jethro I tried so many times since Oliver got back to tell him the truth but every time I did it never seemed like the right time. I finally worked up the courage to do so a few months ago and he hasn't spoken to me since. He lost control of the family company recently and I'm afraid that he's going to do something reckless. I know that he doesn't know you and that you don't know him, but I was hoping that you could speak with him and get to know him. He was close to Robert and I think having a father figure in his life again might do him some good. I know I should have told you Jethro but I was worried that you would be angry about me choosing Robert and try to take Oliver away from us." she finishes with a sob

He's so angry, confused, and upset that he can't even form words. He gets up and begins to pace the length of the room much as she had been doing earlier. To think that this morning his biggest worry was the best way to evaluate DiNozzo in a positive way that wouldn't inflate his ego and now he's a father to a grown man that spent his whole life calling another man dad. This situation was so screwed up. Things like this weren't supposed to happen in real life, things like this happened in all those movies DiNozzo watched. How was this his life?

"Jethro, I know you're angry but please say something" Moira begs

"What's he like?" he asks. The situation is catching up with him and he has to sit down for fear that he'll fall down.

"He's amazing. Growing up he was this ball of energy and he loved to talk and play. He was always moving and it didn't matter to him if it was with his best friend Tommy or by himself. Once his sister was born things changed though. Thea brought out a protective quality in Oliver and though he still liked to talk and play he always had Thea with him. I've never seen a little boy so excited to have a sister. When he hit 15 things changed and my sweet little boy turned into the unruly and hard to manage teenager my parent's warned me about while Robert and I were busy doting on him as a child. He drank, partied, skipped school, and stole a cop car. When he graduated from high school I thought that he'd get better. We'd sent him halfway across the country for college in the hopes that separating him from Tommy would give him a chance to wise up and see that the way he was acting wasn't appropriate but he showed up back in Starling on our doorstep not 3 weeks later stating college wasn't for him. Robert and I didn't know what to do with him so we sent him to another college, and another, and another until finally Robert just got fed up. He decided that he was going to go for a trip on the yacht with Oliver and explain to him that if he didn't clean up his act that we were cutting him off and he was going to have to make his own way until he wised up. I made Robert promise before they left that he would call me everyday. He called once the day after they left to let me know that he hadn't spoken yet with Oliver but he was planning on spending the day fishing with him before breaking the news. He told me he would call me that night to let me know how things went. That call never came; not that night or the next and by the middle of the third day after trying multiple times to get a hold of both Robert and Oliver on their phones I got word back that they had run into a storm. I was devastated. The search and rescue crews spent three days combing the waters for any sign of life but gave up hope. They spent two days after that looking for wreckage. By the day seven I was having a funeral for my husband and son." at this point she has to stop because she is so choked up

"What happened?"

"I was messed up for a long time after that. Poor Thea pretty much lost her whole family that day and for weeks she walked around like a ghost because she didn't have anyone to help her move passed the tragedy that had befallen us because I couldn't get out of bed. If it wasn't for Robert's business partner Walter I don't know how Thea and I would have moved on. He came in one day and made me get dressed and leave the house for lunch. It took some time, but Thea and I began to pick up the pieces of our lives. We were never going to be who we once were but we were making strides. Walter and I married two years after the accident."

"When did you find out that Oliver was still alive" he's nauseated. Where had the kid been?

"Five years after the yacht sank I got a phone call from the American Embassy in China. They told me a man had been found by fishermen on a deserted island in the North China Sea a few days prior and he was claiming to be my dead son. They sent me a photo and five days later I was reuniting with my son at Starling General Hospital. He had scar tissue on 20 percent of his body which included second degree burns and 12 fractures that never healed properly. He doesn't talk about what happened to him while he was gone but he isn't the same boy that left. He's quite and when he walks into a room or situation I can see him asses everything before he says or does anything. Recently a man he met on the island caused some trouble and brought a few things to light but other then that much of his time away still remains a mystery. He grew up on that island and he's a good man. He even gets upset when someone mentions they way he acted before the accident. I'm so proud of him." she finishes

He wants to believe that a kid he's never met couldn't have this much of an effect on him, but having lost Kelly the way he did and to hear about the horrible crap this kid went through shakes him to the core. He has a son and the kid suffered god knows what for five years. He doesn't hold much stock in fate or miracles but he believes that something saved that kid and he is going to be damned if he misses out on anymore of his life. He'll give Oliver the option and if he doesn't want to meet with him he can't say be blames him, but he's certainly going to try. You don't walk away from you kids even if you don't know them.

"When can I meet him?" he asks

"How fast can you pack?" she replies

**End Note: **That is for sure the longest thing I've ever written.


	3. A New Reality

Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or NCIS

Summary: Thea isn't the only Queen child Moira lied to about their true parentage and Oliver is about to find out that living up to the expectations of Robert Queen isn't nearly as hard as balancing life as "The Hood" and being the son of Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

"Life as Gibbs"

Chapter Three – A new reality

His mother had made good on her promise to explain the deception of who his real father was but things between them were still extremely tense and in all honesty weren't looking to get better anytime soon. Her intentions might have been good but there were only so many lies a person could tell before it begins to drive a wedge between them and the ones they love. Ever since that night the hits just kept coming too. It was a shame that vigilantes didn't get vacations because he could really use the down time to contemplate the last few months. He was thankful that the nightmare with Slade had been resolved and he was locked away on the island were he couldn't hurt anyone else but at a time he should be elated he was still floundering in the stress of life's nasty little twists.  
>He'd lost Queen Consolidated to Ray Palmer and had spent a long time after that kicking himself but he'd finally had an epiphany late one night after a long conversation with Diggle that maybe it was for the best. He couldn't deny that he still felt shame and regret over losing the company his great grandfather had worked to build from the ground up, but at least this way the company was in hands that could truly guide it in the direction it as meant to even if those hands weren't that of a Queen. It also gave him more time and better focus for his life as The Arrow.<br>Thea taking off had been a blow that almost knocked him off of his feet. Their bond as brother and sister had grown greatly in the time before she left as both of them struggled to make sense of their mother's betrayal. It had come as a shock to him when she'd taken off without so much as word to him or anyone else. He got why she did it though, and he couldn't bring himself to begrudge her the time away. He'd pulled his own disappearing act after The Undertaking after all. It wasn't until Sara's death that he knew his sister needed to come back to Starling were she belonged. Sharing an apartment payed for with Malcolm Merlyn's money wasn't ideal, but they needed to present a united front against their mother if they ever wanted to make her understand just how hurt they were by her actions. It also made him feel better to have his sister so close.  
>He liked to think that he was strong enough to bare the brunt of everyone else's grief over the loss of Sara, but the truth was he was just barely skimming the surface. Everyday he mourned her loss and struggled knowing that the only person who understood the struggle of living behind a mask and keeping loved ones at an arms length was gone. She hadn't just been his friend, she was his soul mate. Not in the cheesy "we're meant to be together forever" kind of way either; it was more like a "you get me in away no one else does'' kindred spirits kind of way.<br>Sadly, the one person he would regard as a soul mate in the cheesy way was slipping further and further away because of no one else's actions but his own. He thought he'd been doing the right thing by pushing her away, but all it was serving to do was hurt them both even more. He just didn't know how he could consciously allow himself to be with her regardless of how much better it would make them feel. A few weeks ago he had tried to make amends with her and tell her that he did want to give them another try, but that had ended before it started when he unintentionally witnessed a kiss between Felicity and Palmer. He realized in that moment that he'd waited to long and that Felicity had choose to invest her time and feelings in a man that could give her everything she desired. It was haunting and painful lesson that he should have learned much sooner from the tragedy of Shado's death and the heartache Slade endured because he didn't speak up until it was too late.  
>He still hadn't told his friends the truth about everything that went down the night Slade attacked his family. He could see it on their faces that they knew something more had happened than what he shared, but they were being respectful of the fact he wasn't ready to share everything. He wasn't ready to share with them that Robert Queen wasn't his real father. He knew they'd want to know how he felt about all of it and the truth was he didn't know. He had the name of his real father and had been tempted many times to tell Felicity and have her dig information up on him, but it didn't feel right. He'd gotten the story from his mother about the man's painful past and everything he'd gone through so digging just felt like an intrusion and from the sounds of this guy he deserved better than having someone he didn't know dig up things about his life. He'd probably moved on and started another family anyway.<br>He and Thea had finally finished setting up everything with the new apartment with the help of Felicity and Roy. Diggle had offered multiple times but with a new baby at home Oliver told him to spend the extra time with his daughter. Thea had retrieved everything she needed from the Queen mansion not long after the truth about Malcolm to light, so that only left Oliver to clean up and pack the rest of his clothing and personal effects. He wasn't quite sure how his mother had been able to keep the massive Queen mansion and all of its sprawling acreage, but he'd witnessed first hand the lengths she was willing to go to in order the get her way and was sure she'd played her cards just right. He pitied the poor sap on the losing end of that deal.  
>The night he'd finally worked up the nerve to go to the Queen mansion he parked a mile away from the main gates and made his way the rest of the way on foot. His hope was to avoid his mother if possible so he made his way to a trellis located on the east wing of the house that he'd often made good use of as a teenager. The window it lead to was located at the end of a long hallway at which his room stood at the other end of. Thankfully the window wasn't locked which wasn't unusual as he'd still used it occasionally when he got back from the island. Who would have suspected that a grown man was still sneaking in and out of his own house enough to check the locks on a third floor window? Getting in and to his room went without incident, but just as he was about to drop his bags near the window and start the process of lowering them all down a hand clammed down on his shoulder with an iron tight grip and crushing force. He really should have accounted for the fact that his mother would have increased security now that she was the mayor.<p>

"Who the hell are you?" the man asks before his grip tightens further in warning

"This isn't what it looks like." he answers knowing that him sneaking around in the dark is going to raise all kinds of red flags

"Well it looks to me like your sneaking around somewhere you don't belong and planning to take a crap load of stuff with you that isn't yours." the reply speaks volumes. This man isn't going to take or fall for any shit he try's to throw at him.

"What are going to do?" he asks all the while cursing the fact it was to dark to see if the man was packing. It might be to dark to get off a clear shot, but he was close enough to feel the man's breath on his neck and even he wasn't reckless enough to risk getting shot in the house he grew up in while trying to make an escape out of three story window. Suicide wasn't on tonight agenda, but then again, neither was this.

"We're going to go downstairs where I can see first and then I'm going to call the cops. I don't know what you hopped to accomplish tonight, but I can assure you that you aren't going to finish what you came here to start" is the last thing he hears before the had gripping his shoulder swings him around forcing him back down the hallway and further into the house towards the stairs. There halfway down the stairs when his mother's voice rises from what sounds like the living room.

"Did you find the guest rooms without a problem?"

"Moira, call the cops I found this guy lurking around in the dark on the third floor. It looked like he was about to crawl out of the window with a bunch of stuff." Oliver doesn't have enough time to question the fact that the man he'd presumed to be his mother's new body guard was not only referring to her by her first name and not Mrs. Queen but that he would also be living at the mansion too apparently. They just make it to the bottom of the stairs when his mom rounds the corner from the living room and into foyer.

"Oliver? Honey what are you doing here?" she questions with light of hope in her eyes that almost chokes him

"Just came to get the rest of my stuff" he answers as the hands that had clamped onto his shoulder's upstairs suddenly release him. Poor bastard was probably afraid he was going to lose his job for ruffing up the bosses kid

"You hate me so much that you'd sneak through a window rather then face me?" she chokes

"I don't hate you mom. I'm still mad yes but I didn't know what to say. I still don't" he answers quietly while trying to avoid making an eye contact with her

"I truly am sorry sweetheart" she mutters regretfully

"Look I have to go. I promised Thea I'd be back in time to help close up Verdant. She just reopened and doesn't quite have the staff she needs yet. A lot of the guys she lost before found work and she's had a hard time replacing them. I figured helping her out was the least I could do since she letting me crash with her until I can save up enough money to get a place of my own." he doesn't mean to sound bitter about finding a place of his own, but it must have because his mother flinches.

"You can still stay here. I know your mad at me, and that's fine, but I promise I'll give you the distance you want. It's a big house." the sincerity in her voice is genuine

"I can't right now okay. I'm not going to get over you lying to me about my father that quickly. I don't know if I'll even be able to forgive you" he tells her

"I know and I want you to take all the time you need" she answers before stepping sideways too see the guard standing behind him.

"You ready?" she asks him. The guard doesn't answer verbally, but the answer must have been in affirmative because she nods sudely and smiles before turning back to her son.

"This isn't the way I wanted to do this, but your dropping by was unexpected." she takes him gently by the elbow and turns him to face the man standing behind him. The guys is average in height with salt and pepper hair. He looks a little queasy but his blue eyes are boring straight into his. "Oliver, this is Jethro. He flew all the way here from DC to meet you. I know your probably scared right now honey, and we both understand. If this situation is more then you can handle right now just let me know and we can take a step back until you think your ready." his mother is speaking in a calming voice but it isn't doing anything to quell the panic rising in him. His breath is coming out in pants and he feels like he can't draw in enough oxygen. He's faced off with some of the most dangerous men in the world but right now in this moment facing this man he's unsettled to the point of fear.

"Hello son"

He doesn't stick around for anything more before he bolts out the front door without any of his already packed belongings laying on the floor in the upstairs hallway. He wonders briefly how long it will take him to work up the courage to come back and get them this time. As he crosses the threshold and out into the warm dark night his mother's voice is the last thing he hears before he's to far away to hear more.

"Don't worry Jethro. I'm sure he'll come around"


End file.
